1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that continuously forms images on a continuous sheet and includes a cutting unit for cutting the continuous sheet in accordance with an image length, and to a cutting device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-211755 discloses a printing apparatus that continuously prints a plurality of images on a continuous sheet, simultaneously cuts the continuous sheet at positions between the images by two cutters, and forms printouts without a margin.
With the printing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-211755, the positions of the two cutters are fixed, and hence the distance between images has to be constant.
Meanwhile, an inkjet recording apparatus has to discharge ink for refreshing on a non-image portion located between images in order to prevent ink located near an ink discharge portion from being dried. In addition, a pattern for inspecting whether nozzles are capable of discharging ink or not, or a pattern for detecting whether an image has a defect, has to be recorded at irregular timing. In the state in which the distance between images is fixed like Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-211755, if the distance between images is increased to record the aforementioned pattern at irregular timing, the sheet may be wasted. If the distance between images is decreased, the pattern cannot be recorded at desirable timing.